1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of agricultural liquid spray apparatus, and more particularly, is directed to a portable system including a manually operated dynamo suitable to function a rotary spray head and auxiliary equipment to facilitate the manual application of liquid agricultural chemicals in an efficient manner.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Mechanisms to aid in the application of liquid and granular agricultural chemicals to gardens, fields and other surface areas have long been a popular subject matter for prior workers in the art. Numerous types of mechanical devices have been developed to spread the agricultural chemicals and these devices have been both manually and mechanically operated. More recently, the apparatus and equipment has tended to be quite complicated in nature and expensive in manufacture and operation. Most presently available types of spray apparatus have been designed for use with various types of vehicles including aircraft and such known equipment has proven to be both efficient and effective to relatively uniformly apply the desired chemicals.
Agricultural chemical application equipment has also been particularly designed for manual use by an individual and it is in this particular area that the present invention finds special utility. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,935 by the inventor of the present invention, a spray apparatus with a rotary movable head has been disclosed. In the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,935, the movable spray head is rotatively powered through apparatus including ground contacting wheels so that as the apparatus is moved over the ground surface, the wheels generate rotary forces sufficient to rotate the rotary spray head. In other applications, the rotary spray head has been removed from the ground contacting apparatus and has instead been equipped with a small electric motor. Upon equipping the small motor with a suitable battery or batteries, a worker can walk over the ground surface while spraying and the electric motor will provide the rotary energy necessary to turn the spray head for agricultural chemical application purposes.
Such manually carried, battery powered spray apparatus has become quite popular in relatively backward or third world countries and has been widely distributed by one agricultural chemical manufacturer under the trademark "HERBIE". While this device has proved to be highly effective in such areas and efficient when in use, it has been found by farm and plantation operators in third world countries that the "HERBIE" type apparatus is frequently out-of-service and inoperable due to battery run down and the lack of a convenient source of supply for replacement batteries. In addition to the loss of battery power due to the usual and proper use of the apparatus, it has developed that the agricultural farm workers in such areas have a tendency to use the batteries for other purposes, such as for portable radios and the like. Accordingly, when it comes time to work, the spray apparatus frequently cannot function due to the lack of suitable battery power.